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Diary Entry: 24/09/06 - OGUN (Security Password: 014-643-7XX)

After being the only so-called hero in Benin for half a decade, I admit that I was initially worried about sharing the spotlight with Yemanja's band of heroes. I wasn't an uberhuman or the recipient of magical gifts. I was a soldier. I was a normal man who was forced to be something more when the squad I was in found themselves facing the very first incursion of our country by those cursed legions, the Sons of Set. We didn't know what we were facing. At first we assumed the men were refugees, but when they began to cut us down with energy weapons we knew that we had stumbled upon something we were not meant to. Our country had been chosen as the next conquest for the witch, Nepythys: she who would bring ruin and fire upon us all.

I survived and tackled one of the soldiers, grabbing control of the alien weapon. I fought until nightfall, killing strangers while all I knew fell around me. When the soldiers retreated into the darkness I found myself sickened by the death around me. These strange weapons didn't merely kill, they mutilated bodies beyond recognition. I threw down the rifle and swore never to use a firearm again.

News reached the cities that Benin was under attack, and that I had single-handedly defeated them. The public lined the streets. My superiors suggested I leave the armed forces, and my wife Djedji seemed to be satisfied that I had reached my potential. We had been having trouble, Djedji and I. We wanted children, but it didn't seem as if we would be blessed in such a way.

The Sons Of Set returned, of course, but I stood between them and their goal. I wielded a staff which made the enemy underestimate me. They did not know that my ancestors were the famed female warriors, colloquially called amazons by the white people. Our blood was a warrior's blood. I faced off against the godlike fury of the one they called Maahes and nearly died, but the Christian heroes of Sanctity had tracked the Settites and came to my aid. I realised then that I couldn't hold on forever by myself.

And then I was visited by a mysterious, impossibly beautiful, spirit.

Yemanja.

She took me to an island in the Bight where we sat and talked for hours. She had been watching us, hoping we would be safe, but she came to the conclusion that Benin required heroes. She convinced me to lead her assembled heroes and I... I found myself agreeing with her. And I fell in love with her. I hadn't realised it, at first, but it was soon clear. Every moment I saw her and sat with her, I felt my attraction grow.

And yet, my reputation and principles would not allow such a tryst to come about. Yemanja seemed to coax me, to draw out my emotions, and against all my logical impulses we succumbed to desire.

Where does that leave me? I am a hero, more than a mortal man; and yet I find myself betraying my wife of ten years and through that betrayal I am destroying my society. What would the people who admire me think if they realised I was a fake?

I only hope that I can maintain the strength to keep serving my country, and to avoid destroying everything I hold dear through the weakness of my flesh.

Before meeting Yemanja, Mouritala was a trained soldier who had developed excellent skills in stick-fighting. After meeting the spirit he was blessed with the spirit of Ogun which manifested itself with an affinity for fighting, enabling him to fight even when blinded as well as finding flaws in most opponents. He is also able to generate a flurry of strikes with his staff which defy logic. While channeling the spirit of Ogun he is able to land blows five times faster than normal.

Ogun is an athletic man in his thirties who has had a life in the military as well as extensive training on his own. When in costume he wears a golden-orange body armour, with black leggings and wrist guards. He carries a 2m staff which has been blessed by Yemanja. It is always cool to the touch even in the hottest of days.